Living within the El Muzena Tribe

Nuweiba, Sinai

Part 4 ~ The Life of the Women of El Muzena Mena

‘Lady’ Colleen Heller

Being accepted to the El Muzena Bedouin Tribe by the women was about the immediate families I would be seeing most often after I married there. This was not difficult in the beginning but later would prove more so. Why? Because you are of white skin which will never change; it is a constant reminder that you do not belong here. Foreigners marrying into the Tribe are not generally accepted.  Being a bit of a romantic the blinders I wore were rather thick long ago! Some Bedouin women will have no trouble telling you their thoughts and others will leave you to it not coming by for the standard ‘shay’ (sweet tea) which is saying they disapprove without words. I will always be a visitor to the women even after close to 11 years living within the tribe but thankfully I am still welcomed with grand smiles wherever I go. I’ve been accepted in my role for the past two years as a divorced woman living in her house within her ex-husbands family compound which is quite unusual for the tribe, well probably for most people anywhere come to think of it…hmmm.

Women are not highly educated in most all tribes of the Sinai and some will never see a classroom at all. Their lives are directly related to the home and daily chores including their children, husband and animal needs. Reading and writing are not needed to accomplish these goals. They learn by example and teach by the same to their daughters and sons. Televisions are now found in some homes so you would assume they would want what’s being advertised but finding them and wanting them are two very different things. For example seeing different types of soaps, food choices or facial whiteners, that so many of the young ones want, will not easily be found in the small shops in the village. Pharmacies will carry some things but it is usually cost prohibitive for most women and senseless to the elders. ‘Soap is soap and your face is dark by Allah so leave it be’ says one woman named Sopia. 

Bread making, cooking, collecting wood from the desert, washing clothes by hand, caring for the sheep and their homes is a full time occupation as you can imagine. Gas cookers can range from a single ring above a propane tank to a standard stove with an oven. Open fires are always available as the gas tanks need refilling at inopportune times and the men handle this, not always in a timely fashion. Village women have small super markets to get basic needs if their husbands allow them to venture out. If they cannot go they send their children or someone else’s child playing within yelling distance. Water is available during some part of the day, although it can shut off for days at a time with no notice. Their dwellings are block based some with electricity, some without. Running water is not necessary as buckets or big jerkins are filled from the big Lorries that carry water from the mountain down to the homes in the village. Showering is interesting. First you take a finished water bottle and cut the top off with a knife. This you put in the bucket so you can pour the water over your body. If you want hot water you must first boil it in a pot and then add it to the bucket to the desired temperature. In the summer you have no need to do this obviously but in the cooler months when the wind chills over the sea you will want hot water, definitely! Mountain water is so refreshing compared to Cairo water. The minerals and salts of the mountain water have a wonderful effect on your skin as it enlivens your senses. It’s a treat worth experiencing. 

Relationships between the women and their husbands are varied. Some are under direct male supremacy others you will find that it is in fact the women who rule the roost. Families like Sopia and Salam with loads of children remind me that family is the goal amongst all the Bedouin women. One of my favourite places to bring people is to Sopia’s home as the fullness of a Bedouin women’s life can be viewed easily. This family has the women at the hearth and everyone works together. Strangely enough last year mother and daughter were both expecting, now there’s something you do not hear of in my country! The mothers deliver the children of their daughters and have mid wives to help when needed. Mid wives here are women who birthed a lot of their own children or have helped many women give birth to theirs. There is no education for this, just hands on experience. Today mother and daughter have beautiful additions to their family and the family continues to expand. Watching this family over the years reminded me of what seems to have gone missing in the west over the years. That missing energy is community within and surrounding the word family ~ a  caring, sometimes arguing, struggling through hardships, embracing joyful times and surviving in difficult environments or situations, yet unendingly belonging within a family. The Bedouin women have their family community and the tribe community at large to tend to. Community is the basis of this continuing society and it is the women who hold that dear.

all rights reserved Lady Colleen Heller 2010